Blogging series: planning for a crop weekend: tomorrow’s the big day!

Tomorrow’s the big day! Day 1 of the New Jersey Crop Weekends Spring Crop – whoooooo hooo!!!! Can you tell I’m just a little bit excited – lol!! I am so looking forward to this weekend. I need a break and a little time for myself. But before I can head out on my weekend adventure, I’ve got to pack. And of course there is a method to my madness. As we discussed last week I narrowed down my project list and put together kits for some of my projects. Before I pack, I take my project list and determine what order I am going to work on my projects – sort of like my personal agenda or schedule for the weekend. I make sure I’ve scheduled time for fun things like massages and shopping as well. Also by going over my list this last time before I pack helps me narrow things down a little more or maybe add something that I forgot about.

 

My next step is to make a list of items I need to bring with me. I suppose it is not really a surprise that I have a packing list. In addition to the obvious (paper, adhesive, photos, kits, etc) I also include on my list the following:

• Ott light (often times the lighting isn’t the best at crops)
• cutting mat
•  paper trimmer (I have forgotten it before)
• mini garbage can (it folds flat for storage)
• cup holder (it attaches to the table so my cup isn’t on the work surface)
• wine bottle opener & wine (a must have for cocktail time!  - LOL)

 

Now I’m ready to pack. The 1^st thing I pack is my little tote for my most used items. It has a bunch of pockets and holds things like my adhesive, scissors, bone folder, ruler, hand help punch, etc – things I use on every layout/project.

 

A lot of my supplies are stored in containers that are portable so when I pack for a crop I don’t have to find a new way to store my supplies, they go with me as is. Another benefit to using the same containers is that you know where it is. For example if at home you store your paper flowers is a cute box , you know when you want a flower you go to that box, now you are at the crop but your flowers are not in their cute box, let’s say they are in a plastic shoebox bin. You go to look for your flowers and you can’t find them, you waste more time trying to remember what container you transferred them to. If you had the cute box of flowers, it would be a no brainer, something you don’t even need to think about.

 

Any kits that I put together are in 13x13 project folders and these folders go in my paper storage tote. It is a large tote that holds A LOT of paper. The paper stands upright just the way I like it and not flat. All the paper I am bringing with me goes in this tote. In the outside pockets of this tote I store my extra adhesive and my collapsible garbage can. My photos are stored in large cases with handles and I bring the entire case(s) with me. I have a rolling bag specifically designed for my Cricut Expression and it holds it perfectly.

 

For the rest of my items, the majority of them will go into 2 of those large plastic totes/bins that you can get at a big box store. What is great about using these storage bins is that if space is limited at the crop, and often items it is, the tops of the bins provide a great place for my paper trimmer or additional work space. In the large plastic totes you will generally find items I store in boxes such as

• my Cricut cartridges (I store these in boxes made by ScrapCessories)
• paper and fabric flowers
• stickers
• stamp sets
• embellishments

 In addition my Stampin’ Up! Color Caddy that holds all of my inks stands perfectly in the bin and usually I bring the entire Color Caddy with me especially if I plan on doing a lot of stamping. That being said, I am considering just bringing Stampin’ spots (smaller ink pads) to crops in the future because they take up less room and are more portable. I also want to note that I store my punches in a box at home, but at this crop they have a punch station so I am not bringing all of my punches. I am bringing the ones I use all of the time (my “go to” punches) and a couple “unusual” punches that I like that I’m not sure they will have at the punch station.

 

I also have 2 over sized fabric totes that have straight sides and no lids.  In these totes I put items with an irregular shape such as my Ott light and ribbon keepers. What is great about these totes is that they collapse for easy storage at the crop.

 

So that’s it – my crazy thought process on how I pack for a full weekend crop. By using containers that are totes and boxes it makes packing the car super easy too. Everything fits together like an easy puzzle. Now I’ve got to get packing – see you at the crop!

 

Happy scrapping!

 

Jessica

Comments

[Jessica Lamb]

Thanks Dale! I am soooo excited to go to the crop this weekend. I did a 4 part blog series on planning for a weekend crop, check out the other posts. Glad you like the card! Happy scrapping!

[Dale Morin]

Hope you enjoy your weekend of scrapbooking! I never know what to bring. Thanks for my one on one card. It will be on my blog tomorrow. Great card.